Nordic (skating) 2:00:00 [4] 38.0 km (3:09 / km)
Drayton Valley loppet in, *shock and awe*, Drayton Valley. 3 laps of approximately 11k. I was expecting it to be hillier than I thought, but it actually wasn't, so the recurring theme was one skate, a whole crapton of one skate. Alas, the actual race ended in approximately 20 meters, so I tried to focus on just keeping the foot on the gas throughout the entire race. With no one around to push me harder, I tried really hard to push myself.
When I look at my heart rate, on one hand, I did my 1st k with a heart rate of 160, and did my 34th k with a heart rate of 160, so I'm glad I didn't really slack off at any point of the race. Sure, it was generally a little higher than that, but on the other hand I might have liked to see that spike a bit more over the last 5-6 k, so I think there's still more effort to be pushed there. I imagine if one of the other guys were around to push me up that last hill, things would have been different.
Still, despite the total absence of competition I was glad to get out and get in a nice hard effort. Strava has the race at about 34.9 in 1:41, but we'll see what the results claim.
Very nice trails too! Pretty wide, a little soft, but a nice chance to use my Fischer S-Tracks. Never get to use those things.
Also, feet = ruined again. Ouch.